• 천문학회지
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.195-205
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• 1996

The evolution of the stellar debris after tidal disruption due to the super massive black hole's tidal force is difficult to solve numerically because of the large dynamical range of the problem. We developed an SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics) - TVD (Total Variation Diminishing) hybrid code in which the SPH is used to cover a widely spread debris and the TVD is used to compute the stream collision more accurately. While the code in the present form is not sufficient to obtain desired resoultion, it could provide a useful tool in studying the aftermath of the stellar disruption by a massive black hole.

• 천문학회보
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.50.2-50.2
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• 2011

It is believed that active galactic nuclei (AGN) is powered by super massive black hole (SMBH). But how the AGN activity is triggered is still unclear. Some studies suggest that gas inflow by merging can trigger AGN activity. However, it is difficult to find observational evidence because merging features such as tidal tail, shell are faint. Using images taken at Maidanak 1.5m telescope and CFHT, we investigated whether merging features are seen commonly on AGN host galaxies. We found that 3 to 4 of the currently studied 6 AGN show features disturbed by gravitational interaction. This result implies that AGN activity may correlates with merging. We plan to expand the sample size in the near future.

• 천문학회지
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.19-28
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• 2000

In the earlier papers we analyzed the axisymmetric, nonstationary electrodynamics of the central black hole and a surrounding thin accretion disk in an active galactic nucleus. In this paper we analyze the axisymmetric, nonstationary electrodynamics of the black hole magnetosphere in a similar way. In the earlier papers we employed the poloidal component of the plasma velocity which is confined only to the radial direction of the cylindrical coordinate system. In this paper we employ a more general poloidal velocity and get the Grad-Shafranov equation of the force-free magnetosphere of a Kerr black hole. The equation is consistent with the previous ones and is more general in many aspects as it should be. We also show in more general approaches that the angular velocity of the magnetic field lines anchored on the accreting matter tends to become close to that of the black hole at the equatorial zone of the hole.

• 천문학회보
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• 제36권2호
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• pp.61.2-61.2
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• 2011

Low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs) have been generally regarded to be powered by active galactic nuclei (AGNs), yet still a number of alternative explanations on the origin of LINER emission are suggested; for example, planetary nebulae nuclei of massive stars, supernovae shocks from death of massive stars, and old stellar populations. Interestingly, a majority of recent star formation early-type galaxies (ETGs) in local universe presents such LINER emission lines. Given that situation, revealing the true nature of LINERs is a crucial step to constrain the evolution path to quiescent ETGs. To resolve the issue, we use Keck/LRIS to obtain spatially resolved spectra on a carefully selected ETG. The ETG SDSS J091628.05+420818.7 at redshift z ~ 0.024 shows modest LINER emission line features without any detection of 21 cm radio continuum nor X-ray emission. We perform a stellar continuum subtraction and measure emission line strengths and their uncertainties for each spectrum from five apertures along the slit with size of 1 arcsecond (~0.5 kpc). We find that extended spatial distributions of four emission lines $H{\alpha}$, $H{\beta}$, [OIII]${\lambda}5007$, and [NII]${\lambda}6583$, and they can be explained by central emission blurring effect. We conclude that the emissions seem to be centrally concentrated, indicating the AGN-nature of LINERs.

• 천문학회지
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• 제47권6호
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• pp.303-309
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• 2014

We present results of our investigation of the radio intrinsic brightness temperatures of compact radio jets. The intrinsic brightness temperatures of about 100 compact radio jets at 2, 5, 8, 15, and 86 GHz are estimated based on large VLBI surveys conducted in 2001-2003 (or in 1996 for the 5 GHz sample). The multi-frequency intrinsic brightness temperatures of the sample of jets are determined by a statistical method relating the observed brightness temperatures with the maximal apparent jet speeds, assuming one representative intrinsic brightness temperature for a sample of jets at each observing frequency. By investigating the observed brightness temperatures at 15 GHz in multiple epochs, we find that the determination of the intrinsic brightness temperature for our sample is affected by the flux density variability of individual jets at time scales of a few years. This implies that it is important to use contemporaneous VLBI observations for the multi-frequency analysis of intrinsic brightness temperatures. Since our analysis is based on the VLBI observations conducted in 2001-2003, the results are not strongly affected by the flux density variability. We find that the intrinsic brightness temperature $T_0$ increases as $T_0{\propto}{\nu}^{\xi}_{obs}$ with ${\xi}=0.7$ below a critical frequency ${\nu}_c{\approx}9GHz$ where the energy loss begins to dominate the emission. Above ${\nu}_c$, $T_0$ decreases with ${\xi}=-1.2$, supporting the decelerating jet model or particle cascade model. We also find that the peak value of $T_0{\approx}3.4{\times}10^{10}$ K is close to the equipartition temperature, implying that the VLBI cores observable at 2-86 GHz may be representing jet regions where the magnetic field energy dominates the total energy in jets.

• 천문학회지
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• 제48권5호
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• pp.313-323
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• 2015

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are known for irregular variability on all time scales, down to intra-day variability with relative variations of a few percent within minutes to hours. On such short timescales, unexplored territory, such as the possible existence of a shortest characteristic time scale of activity and the shape of the high frequency end of AGN power spectra, still exists. We present the results of AGN single-dish fast photometry performed with the Korean VLBI Network (KVN). Observations were done in a “anti-correlated” mode using two antennas, with always at least one antenna pointing at the target. This results in an effective time resolution of less than three minutes. We used all four KVN frequencies, 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz, in order to trace spectral variability, if any. We were able to derive high-quality light curves for 3C 111, 3C 454.3, and BL Lacertae at 22 and 43 GHz, and for 3C 279 at 86 GHz, between May 2012 and April 2013. We performed a detailed statistical analysis in order to assess the levels of variability and the corresponding upper limits. We found upper limits on flux variability ranging from ~1.6% to ~7.6%. The upper limits on the derived brightness temperatures exceed the inverse Compton limit by three to six orders of magnitude. From our results, plus comparison with data obtained by the University of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory, we conclude that we have not detected source-intrinsic variability which would have to occur at sub-per cent levels.

• 천문학회지
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• 제48권5호
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• pp.299-311
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• 2015

We report first results from KVN and VERA Array (KaVA) VLBI observations obtained in the frame of our Plasma-physics of Active Galactic Nuclei (PAGaN) project. We observed eight selected AGN at 22 and 43 GHz in single polarization (LCP) between March 2014 and April 2015. Each source was observed for 6 to 8 hours per observing run to maximize the uv coverage. We obtained a total of 15 deep high-resolution images permitting the identification of individual circular Gaussian jet components and three spectral index maps of BL Lac, 3C 111 and 3C 345 from simultaneous dual-frequency observations. The spectral index maps show trends in agreement with general expectations – flat core and steep jets – while the actual value of the spectral index for jets shows indications for a dependence on AGN type. We analyzed the kinematics of jet components of BL Lac and 3C 111, detecting superluminal proper motions with maximum apparent speeds of about 5c. This constrains the lower limits of the intrinsic component velocities to ~ 0.98c and the upper limits of the angle between jet and line of sight to ~20°. In agreement with global jet expansion, jet components show systematically larger diameters d at larger core distances r, following the global relation d ≈ 0.2r, albeit within substantial scatter.

• 천문학회지
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.167-175
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• 2003

There is accumulating evidence for a strong link between nuclear starbursts and AGN. Molecular gas in the central regions of galaxies plays a critical role in fueling nuclear starburst activity and feeding central AGN. The dense molecular ISM is accreted to the nuclear regions by stellar bars and galactic interactions. Here we describe recent observational results for the OB star forming regions in M51 and the nuclear star burst in Arp 220 - both of which have approximately the same rate of star formation per unit mass of ISM. We suggest that the maximum efficiency for forming young stars is an Eddington-like limit imposed by the radiation pressure of newly formed stars acting on the interstellar dust. This limit corresponds to approximately 500 $L_{\bigodot} / M_{\bigodot}$ for optically thick regions in which the radiation has been degraded to the NIR. Interestingly, we note that some of the same considerations can be important in AGN where the source of fuel is provided by stellar evolution mass-loss or ISM accretion. Most of the stellar mass-loss occurs from evolving red giant stars and whether their mass-loss can be accreted to a central AGN or not depends on the radiative opacity of the mass-loss material. The latter depends on whether the dust survives or is sublimated (due to radiative heating). This, in turn, is determined by the AGN luminosity and the distance of the mass-loss stars from the AGN. Several AGN phenomena such as the broad emission and absorption lines may arise in this stellar mass-loss material. The same radiation pressure limit to the accretion may arise if the AGN fuel is from the ISM since the ISM dust-to-gas ratio is the same as that of stellar mass-loss.

• 천문학회지
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• 제47권5호
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• pp.167-178
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• 2014

We search for misclassified type 1 AGNs among type 2 AGNs identified with emission line flux ratios, and investigate the properties of the sample. Using 4 113 local type 2 AGNs at 0.02 < z < 0.05 selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we detected a broad component of the $H{\alpha}$ line with a Full-Width at Half-Maximum (FWHM) ranging from 1 700 to $19090km\;s^{-1}$ for 142 objects, based on the spectral decomposition and visual inspection. The fraction of the misclassified type 1 AGNs among type 2 AGN sample is ~3.5%, implying that a large number of missing type 1 AGN population may exist. The misclassified type 1 AGNs have relatively low luminosity with a mean broad $H{\alpha}$ luminosity, log $L_{H\alpha}=40.50{\pm}0.35\;erg\;s^{-1}$, while black hole mass of the sample is comparable to that of the local black hole population, with a mean black hole mass, log $M_{BH}=6.94{\pm}0.51\;M_{\odot}$. The mean Eddington ratio of the sample is log $L_{bol}/L_{Edd}=-2.00{\pm}0.40$, indicating that black hole activity is relatively weak, hence, AGN continuum is too weak to change the host galaxy color. We find that the O III lines show significant velocity offsets, presumably due to outflows in the narrow-line region, while the velocity offset of the narrow component of the $H{\alpha}$ line is not prominent, consistent with the ionized gas kinematics of general type 1 AGN population.

• 천문학회보
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• 제40권1호
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• pp.74.2-74.2
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• 2015

Strong outflows from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) may play a crucial role in galaxy evolution. Integral-field spectroscopy (IFS) is the most powerful tool to study the detailed kinematics of AGN outflows. We present the on-going optical 3D spectroscopic survey of ionized gas outflows. Type 2 AGN sample is uniquely selected from SDSS DR7 with a luminosity-limit (i.e., L[O III] > $10^{41.5}erg/s$) as well as strong kinematic signatures of ionized gas outflows ([O III] velocity shift > ~200 km/s or [O III] velocity dispersion (FWHM) > 1000 km/s), defining an extremely rare population (< ~0.5%). Thus, these AGNs with strong outflow signatures are one of the best suites for investigating AGN feedback. The IFS observations cover several kpc scales for the central region of the host galaxies, providing a detailed information of the kinematics and geometry of the gas outflows. In this contribution, we report the current status of the survey and the preliminary results on gas kinematics of 18 AGNs, based on the Magellan/IMACS-IFU and the VLT/VIMOS data.